Hydrocephalus following spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage

1973 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gazi Yasargil ◽  
Yasuhiro Yonekawa ◽  
Bruno Zumstein ◽  
Hans-Jürgen Stahl

✓ Twenty-eight cases of communicating hydrocephalus after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to ruptured intracranial aneurysms are reported. The relationship between the incidence of this complication and the various clinical features of SAH is discussed. The findings of RISA cisternography have little relationship to the findings of pneumoencephalography or the results of shunting procedures. The availability and value of echoencephalography in treating such patients is emphasized.

1999 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Massicotte ◽  
Marc R. Del Bigio

Object. The origin of chronic communicating hydrocephalus following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is not well understood. Fibrosis of the arachnoid villi has been suggested as the cause for obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow, but this is not well supported in the literature. The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between blood, inflammation, and cellular proliferation in arachnoid villi after SAH.Methods. Arachnoid villi from 50 adult patients were sampled at autopsy. All specimens were subjected to a variety of histochemical and immunohistochemical stains. The 23 cases of SAH consisted of patients in whom an autopsy was performed 12 hours to 34 years post-SAH. Fifteen cases were identified as moderate-to-severe SAH, with varying degrees of hydrocephalus. In comparison with 27 age-matched non-SAH controls, the authors observed blood and inflammation within the arachnoid villi during the 1st week after SAH. Greater mitotic activity was also noted among arachnoid cap cells. The patient with chronic SAH presented with ventriculomegaly 2 months post-SAH and exhibited remarkable arachnoid cap cell accumulation.Conclusions. The authors postulate that proliferation of arachnoidal cells, triggered by the inflammatory reaction or blood clotting products, could result in obstruction of CSF flow through arachnoid villi into the venous sinuses. This does not exclude the possibility that SAH causes generalized fibrosis in the subarachnoid space.


1999 ◽  
Vol 91 (5) ◽  
pp. 761-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgitta K. Velthuis ◽  
Maarten S. van Leeuwen ◽  
Theodoor D. Witkamp ◽  
Lino M. P. Ramos ◽  
Jan Willem Berkelbach van der Sprenkel ◽  
...  

Object. The purpose of this study was to determine prospectively whether and to what extent computerized tomography (CT) angiography can serve as the sole imaging method for a preoperative workup in patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms.Methods. During a 1-year period, all patients who presented to the authors' hospital with subarachnoid hemorrhage demonstrated by unenhanced CT scanning or lumbar puncture underwent CT angiography. Two radiologists evaluated the CT angiography source images and maximum intensity projection slabs and arrived at a consensus. They categorized the quality of the CT angiography as adequate or inadequate and classified aneurysms that were detected as definitely or possibly present. The parent artery of anterior communicating artery aneurysms was identified by asymmetrical anterior cerebral artery size and asymmetrical aneurysm location. The parent artery was indicated by the larger A1 segment in cases of asymmetrical A1 size. Only CT angiograms of adequate quality that revealed aneurysms classified as definitely present and with an unequivocal parent artery were presented to the neurosurgeons, who decided whether preoperative digital subtraction (DS) angiography should still be performed.Forty-nine of the 100 studied patients did not undergo surgery because of poor clinical condition, nonaneurysmal cause of the hemorrhage, or endovascular treatment of the ruptured aneurysm. Of the 51 patients who underwent surgery, radiologists required DS angiography in 17 patients; the imaging technique provided greater certainty in 13 instances. The neurosurgeons required DS angiography 11 times; this provided additional information in two instances. Twenty-three (45%) of the 51 patients were surgically treated successfully on the basis of CT angiography findings alone.Conclusions. Computerized tomography angiography can replace DS angiography as the preoperative neuroimaging technique in a substantial proportion of patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms.


1972 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian L. Robinson ◽  
Charles J. Hall ◽  
Carol B. Sedzimir

✓ A series of women who had spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage during pregnancy is reviewed. These patients are more likely than the average to have an angiographically demonstrable lesion, with arteriovenous anomalies and aneurysms occurring equally. The clinical features are evaluated so that an idea of the causative lesion can be gained at the bedside in the absence of specific neurological tests. When the known cardiovascular changes of pregnancy are correlated with the clinical features in these patients, it is found that subarachnoid hemorrhage from an arteriovenous anomaly or aneurysm in pregnancy is not related to the increased cardiac output. From these data, the preferred neurosurgical and obstetrical management is defined.


1984 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1009-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Symon ◽  
Janos Vajda

✓ A series of 35 patients with 36 giant aneurysms is presented. Thirteen patients presented following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and 22 with evidence of a space-occupying lesion without recent SAH. The preferred technique of temporary trapping of the aneurysm, evacuation of the contained thrombus, and occlusion of the neck by a suitable clip is described. The danger of attempted ligation in atheromatous vessels is stressed. Intraoperatively, blood pressure was adjusted to keep the general brain circulation within autoregulatory limits. Direct occlusion of the aneurysm was possible in over 80% of the cases. The mortality rate was 8% in 36 operations. Six percent of patients had a poor result. Considerable improvement in visual loss was evident in six of seven patients in whom this was a presenting feature, and in four of seven with disturbed eye movements.


1971 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 571-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneel N. Patel ◽  
Alan E. Richardson

✓ An analysis of 3000 ruptured intracranial aneurysms revealed 58 cases in patients under the age of 19 years. There was a striking incidence of aneurysms of the carotid termination and anterior cerebral complex, accounting for 43 of 58 cases, and of these 20 involved the terminal portion of the carotid artery. Vasospasm occurred slightly less often than in adults and infarction was only seen in one postmortem examination. The surgical mortality in alert patients was 7% whereas in a comparable bedrest group it was 38%. This good tolerance to surgery was evident whether intracranial operation or carotid ligation was used, but the surgical method was not randomly allocated.


1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarl Rosenørn ◽  
Vagn Eskesen ◽  
Kaare Schmidt ◽  
Frits Rønde

✓ In the 5-year period from 1978 to 1983, 1076 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms were admitted to the six neurosurgical departments in Denmark and were entered in a prospective consecutive study conducted by the Danish Aneurysm Study Group. The patients were followed with 3-month and 2-year examinations or to death. A total of 133 patients suffered at least one rebleed after their initial hemorrhage during their first stay in the neurosurgical department; these patients had a mortality rate of 80% compared to 41 % for patients without a rebleed (p < 0.0001). During the first 2 weeks after the initial insult, 102 rebleeds were registered. The daily rate of rebleeds during these 2 weeks, calculated using a life-table method, varied from 0.2% to 2.1%. The rebleed rate during the first 24 hours (Day 0) was 0.8%, and the maximum risk of rebleeding was observed between Day 4 and Day 9. Significantly fewer rebleeds were reported in patients with good clinical grades (Grades 1 to 3, Hunt Grades I and II) compared to those with poor clinical grades (Grades 4 to 9, Hunt Grades III to V: p < 0.001).


1976 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Shapiro ◽  
Kenneth Shulman

✓ The authors describe two children with anomalous intracranial venous return associated with bilateral facial nevi, macrocrania, and cephalic venous hypertension. Both children had functional absence of the jugular bulbs, forcing the intracranial venous effluent to exit through persistent emissary pathways. Both children had sustained intracranial hypertension, with one child developing symptomatic communicating hydrocephalus that responded satisfactorily to shunting. The relationship between these patients and those with Sturge-Weber syndrome is discussed. The embryologic abnormality producing the anomalous venous return is characterized. The link between venous hypertension and the development of hydrocephalus is discussed. The increased cranial compliance seen in this age group may predispose certain pediatric patients to develop hydrocephalus when stressed by venous hypertension.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 691-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Kotwica ◽  
Jerzy Brzeziński

✓ Six cases of chronic subdural hematoma presenting with the clinical findings of acute subarachnoid hemorrhage are reported. No systemic or focal cause for the bleeding was found, and possible mechanisms are discussed.


1981 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim J. Burchiel ◽  
Gottfried Schmer

✓ A rapid fluorometric assay technique has been utilized to assess the degree of fibrinolytic inhibition in 20 patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA). This method quantitates the available plasminogen activity (APA) of plasma, and has proven to be a reliable means of monitoring antifibrinolytic therapy. Determination of the plasma APA also permits correlation of the level of fibrinolytic activity with putative complications of EACA therapy. Normal control plasma APA was 3.1 ± 0.7 CTA units/ml, but in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), pretreatment fibrinolytic activity was supranormal at 3.78 ± 0.88 CTA units/ml. During continuous intravenous administration of EACA (1.5 gm/hr) in patients with SAH, the plasma fibrinolytic activity was decreased to 0.9 ± 0.31 CTA units/ml. A case is described which exemplifies the use of this assay. In addition, an approach to monitoring antifibrinolytic therapy using the plasma APA is proposed.


1980 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Shucart ◽  
S. K. Hussain ◽  
Paul R. Cooper

✓ A clinical trial of epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) in preventing recurrent hemorrhage from intracranial arterial aneurysms is reported. Previous reports were reviewed, and their results concerning antifibrinolytic agents were inconclusive in establishing their efficacy. One hundred patients with documented ruptured intracranial aneurysms were admitted to this study within 48 hours of the initial hemorrhage: 45 patients received 36 gm of EACA/day, with 11 documented rebleeds and one suspected rebleed; 55 patients did not receive EACA, and there were four documented rebleeds and one suspected rebleed. No benefit was seen from the use of EACA.


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